


Not in Gold Sides

by thorinsaplusparenting (ibreathethroughwords)



Series: Not in Gold [2]
Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Puppy Love, children playing courting games, watch for random bits of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-28
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 19:44:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibreathethroughwords/pseuds/thorinsaplusparenting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Side stories and outtakes for <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/723740">Not in Gold</a>. You'll probably need to read that to understand this one.</p><p>Feel free to request specific things.</p><p>1. kid!Fili courting kid!Ori, requested by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamaica_tan/pseuds/Jamaica_tan">Jamaica_tan</a>. Takes place simultaneously with the beginning of chapter 7.<br/>2. Prequel!Nori, doing his thing, inspired by way too much Florence + The Machine. To avoid spoilers read after chapter nine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> Here is some fluff as a reward for putting up with the angst.

Lessons with Dwalin were fun, he guessed, but they weren't Ori's favorite. Dori said it was good to go outside and get some fresh air, but if that was true, then he didn't understand why Dori didn't do it. Grown ups were weird, but at least Nori was home now. He missed Nori, and he liked the way Dwalin's face screwed up whenever they were in the same room. Nori knew how to make Dwalin make all the best faces, and he knew how to make the King make funny faces too, but they were a different kind of face, like he was mad and way too warm all over.

Sort of like he had to poop, Ori guessed. 

This morning he was with just Dwalin though, happily sitting on his shoulders as they walked to Princess Dis's home to pick up Fili and Kili. Ori thought they were okay too, but they were a little loud at playtime. Books and coloring were way more fun to him, and they didn't yell loudly or try to put worms down his shirt.

But they definitely didn't make him feel happy in quite the same way Fili did. The older boy liked to kiss his cheeks and hold his hand and was forever giving him pretty rocks and things. Ori loved all of the attention, though he wasn't sure what to make of Kili trying to compete for his attention. Kili liked someone else, but he wouldn't say who, which was stupid because Ori would only tell his brothers and Balin and Dwalin.

They got the King's sister-sons and headed to the practice area. The members of the guard all recognized their Captain and bowed to him or saluted as they walked past. Many of them waved at the boys, enamored of the little ones as most dwarrows tended to be of dwarflings.

Practice as fine, even if Ori wasn't nearly as good at any of it as Fili and Kili. He tired much more easily and often ended up napping for a short while on Dwalin's jacket while he worked more intensely with Fili. When he woke up, he was pleasantly surprised to see that Fili had curled up next to him. Ori sleepily shifted closer to him, and Fili smiled at him with bright eyes in a way that made Ori's skin buzz a little all over.

"Hi!" Fili chirped at him. Behind him Ori could see Dwalin working with Kili on the bow.

"Hello," Ori said shyly back. Fili handed him a pretty rock. It was a deep blue and it seemed to glow slightly when it caught the sun. Ori's eyes widened as he took it. "It's so pretty!"

Fili grinned at him. "It's for you! I found it on the walk here. I like you, so I want to give you things to make you happy."

Ori blushed, but sat up to hug Fili anyway. "Thank you," he said seriously.

"I want to court you," Fili whispered. "I'm going to marry you when we're big."

The thought of being married scared him, but Ori was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to talk about that. He didn't want to get in trouble like Dori did, so he just smiled and kissed his cheek. 

"Maybe when we're big," he echoed instead.


	2. Betrayer, Murderer, King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " _Who is the betrayer? Who's the killer in the crowd? The one who creeps in corridors and doesn't make a sound._ "
> 
> -"Heavy in Your Arms" by Florence and the Machine

It had taken him months of very careful work to slip himself and five others into the group that was plotting to take hold of some of Nori's assets in Bree. The human here often worked with dwarrows, and thought nothing odd at all that more wished to join up with him. Nori himself pretended to be one of his own top lieutenants, feigning switching sides because he was discontent with the leadership of his organization.

He fed them misinformation, moving his own people around to make it seem real, and worked hard to gain the leader's trust and confidence. Nori "sold out" his organization, letting the men "ambush" them a time or two, and let him think that he had dealt some swift, horrible blows to Nori.

In the deepest part of the night, he and his men struck. They were swift and silent, slipping down the darkened corridors of the Men's stronghold and slitting the throats of his people in their sleep. No one noticed a thing, and when Nori took his knife to the leader's throat and ended his life, his people had managed to occupy the rest of the building. They spared only the Ives of their fellow dwarrow, and the bodies of the Men were taken out of the city in wagons to be burned.

With his rivals out of commission, Nori took over their assets and territory and added it to his own. 

"Betrayer," his people whispered of him reverently, of his cunning tactics to gain the trust of one before he killed him.

"Murderer," the Men in the town whispered of him in anger.

"My King," whispered his lieutenants, as he ordered them to make secure the building, and to figure out which people they would leave to hold it and run it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balin's office is not a happy place for one member of the household.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mean to span some of the later chapters, from right before Thorin mentioning the pardon onward.
> 
> This chapter likely won't make a lick of sense if you aren't up through chapter 13 on Not in Gold.

Dori hated Balin's office. That was where this whole damnable mess had started, after all. It was always so neat and clean inside, never giving up a clue that this was the first room of the house in which Dori had begun to feel like a prisoner. When Dori had first sold his body to Balin in exchange for Ori's tuition, it had been in here. The first time Balin had been forced to mete out punishment, it had been in here. The only good memory he had at all of this room was the arrangement of their marriage contract, but even that had gone south. 

Perhaps not for much longer, but it remained to be seen whether or not Balin was actively trying to better himself for Dori and the baby. If he was, well, Dori was not adverse to giving him one more chance - and only one more chance. He had said as much to Balin when they had begun talking again about their previous arrangement, and their plans for the future. That Balin wanted so badly to be a part of the baby's life and to continue to be a part of Ori's was moving. Dori hoped things would continue to improve.

He wanted to believe that Balin could be a good person. Ori was so attached to him, and Dori wanted whatever would make his brother happy. If taking all his afternoon naps on Balin pleased him, well, Dori could learn to make do with that. That Balin was even willing to try to improve reflected well on his inner character. Balin had realized the wrongs he had committed and was trying to find a way to mend them for all their sakes. Dori had to believe he was a good person.

As the days flew by and turned into weeks, Dori was happy to see his hopes proven true. Balin became an attentive lover and companion, working hard to please Dori and keep him happy. When the exhaustion took him, Balin was by his side as often as possible to keep him company, and holding him at night to lull him to sleep and to reassure him whenever the situation grew overwhelming. Hope slowly began to grow into something more, and Dori finally started to find peace, though he forever gave that office a wide berth.


End file.
